A Derby company helping hundreds of schools across the UK with their IT has held its biggest ever education technology event.
L.E.A.D. IT, which works with educational trusts around the UK including the country’s biggest primary-only academy trust, Burton-based REAch2, saw more people than ever flock to its free M.E.E.T event in Derby, where they learned all about the latest advances in technology in schools.
Delegates from a wide area met suppliers offering cutting-edge technology including interactive tables for pre-schoolers, 3D printing, VR headsets, and free computing curriculum teaching resources.
Visitors heard fascinating talks investigating what the classroom of the future may look like, ideas on how to make computing teaching fun for children, and how best to use the advance of AI to support pupils’ learning.
Sarah Lee, head teacher of Hogarth Academy in Nottingham, told visitors about how a special project offering pupils individual use of laptops had been instrumental in helping many more boys to write, telling the room the vital importance of empowering children in the world they would grow up in.
Jenny Parkinson-Mills, director of digitally enabled learning at Warwick Schools Foundation, provided some great insights into the world of AI.
She spoke of the importance of schools creating an AI strategy covering elements such as safeguarding, integrating AI tools, and helping pupils be agile in a changing world.
“Some people think half the world’s jobs are going to go – I think half of every job is going to go,” she said. “I don’t think it’s going to be job destruction. I think it’s going to be task destruction.”
Erica Clennell, computing lead at Mickleover Primary School, said the M.E.E.T event had been extremely helpful.
She said: “I just find the speakers really inspiring, very up to date, and there are lots of little things I can take back to school.
“L.E.A.D. IT supports us with our teaching. We can’t teach computing without them because they do everything, from Internet connection, safeguarding, looking after the hardware and software. I love this event. I think more head teachers and school business managers should attend as well as computing leads.”
Sophie Jepson, resource and project manager at L.E.A.D. IT, said: “We were very happy with the M.E.E.T event and hope that delegates from schools and trusts who attended found it useful.
“It’s vitally important that children in primary and secondary education are given the best computing education and tech support. They will be going out into a fast-changing world and we need to give them the agility of thinking they will need to be able to thrive out there.
“We are very proud to have put this event on and delighted with the response from school representatives who are forward-thinking in the way they are prioritising this vital part of the curriculum.
“The computing curriculum in the UK is ten years old this year and it’s brilliant to see head teachers engaging with this most creative of subjects. There aren’t that many ed tech events in this country so we are doing our bit to support the sector by putting our M.E.E.T event on every year in the heart of Derby.”
This story was written and shared on behalf of L.E.A.D. IT by Lucy Stephens. Can we share your news and get you in the headlines too? Find out how we can help by getting in touch.
